Mon, 11/03/2025 - 10:20
Happy Valley Selections
(Wednesday, November 05, 2025)
DRF Past Performances
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When weights were announced in mid-September for Monday’s Group 1 Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse in Australia, the gelding Valiant King ranked 76th among the candidates.
Since then, Valiant King has forced his way into the field, and will start in the famous two-mile race for the second consecutive year.
Trained by Chris Waller, Valiant King earned a guaranteed berth to this year’s $6.53 million Melbourne Cup with a win at 60-1 in the Group 3 Bart Cumming Stakes at about 1 9/16 miles at Flemington on Oct. 4.
Masquerade Ball rallied between rivals in early stretch to win Sunday’s autumn running of the Grade 1 Tenno Sho at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan. It was the 3-year-old colt’s first victory in a race at the highest level and his debut against older horses.
The win may lead to a start in a Grade 1 race in Japan in coming weeks and months, with the $7.07 million Japan Cup at 1 1/2 miles at Tokyo on Nov. 30, or the $7.07 million Arima Kinen at 1 9/16 miles at Nakayama on Dec. 28 as options.
Sunday’s Tenno Sho was run at 1 1/4 miles.
Two stakes wins by Parchment Party in long-distance stakes at Saratoga in June and August have not impressed Australian bettors in advance of Monday’s Group 1 Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse.
As of Thursday, Parchment Party was a 40-1 outsider in an expected field of 24 in the $6.55 million Melbourne Cup, run at two miles on turf.
Parchment Party, a 4-year-old colt trained by Bill Mott, is winless in two starts on turf. He was ninth of 11 in the Grade 2 Mac Diarmida Stakes at 1 3/8 miles on turf at Gulfstream Park on March 1 in his latest start on the surface.
Fri, 10/31/2025 - 12:38
By Paul Ryding
David Eustace will turn to one of his yard’s emerging talents as he bids to build momentum and snap a frustrating spell when Hong Kong racing shifts to Happy Valley’s rare weekend meeting on Sunday (2 November).
Stuck on one win through 15 meetings of the 2025/26 campaign, Eustace, who picked up 36 winners during an excellent debut season in Hong Kong, has been left frustrated by a run of narrow defeats this term.
Masquerade Ball, Meisho Tabaru, and Tastiera are the comeback boys in Sunday’s Grade 1 autumn running of the Tenno Sho at 1 1/4 miles at Tokyo Racecourse in Japan.
Masquerade Ball has not raced since a second-place finish by three-quarters of a length in the Grade 1 Japanese Derby at 1 1/2 miles at Tokyo on June 1.
Meisho Tabaru, a 4-year-old colt, won the Grade 1 Takarazuka Kinen at 1 3/8 miles at Hanshin Racecourse on June 15 in his latest appearance. He is expected to take his customary position at the front.
By Leo Schlink
Mark Newnham’s stellar season continued to gather momentum when the Australian horseman notched a double at Sha Tin’s all-dirt meeting on Thursday night (30 October) to extend his lead in the 2025/26 trainers’ championship.
The first trainer to reach the 20-victory mark this season with the successes of New Forest and Notthesillyone, Newnham increased the buffer over Caspar Fownes (14) to six after 15 meetings with David Hayes (13) and Danny Shum (11) next.
The remarkable aspect surrounding the early career of the Australian filly Autumn Glow is trainer Chris Waller’s assessment of her undefeated record after seven starts.
“We don’t know good she is yet,” Waller recently told the Australian press.